dots and dashes
by TheBlueAzuru
Summary: Nico hates the annoying boy in his geometry class, with his cuffed dad jeans and tanned skin and his calloused hands that were constantly carving out morse code messages and his warm eyes and his crooked grin. Yeah. Nothing could change that. Nothing.


happy thanksgiving y'all 3

a little gift for the few valdangelo shippers.

fyi i literally wrote this after seeing one (1) cute piece of fanart. using knowledge from when i read up to mark of athena in like 6th grade.

anyways valdangelo

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

"Hey, guys," Leo greeted as he pulled out a chair, the loud metal scraping against the tiles. He took a hash brown from Piper's tray. She rolled her eyes playfully.

"Get your own food, dumbass." Jason laughed as Piper snatched the hash brown back, popping it in her mouth despite the bite Leo had taken from it.

"So," Jason said, diverting the conversation. "What's your schedule, Leo? Piper and I have Geometry, History, and Athletics together." Leo pulled a crumpled wad of paper from the pocket of his dad jeans. After smoothing the wrinkles out on the side of the table, he read it aloud. Jason nodded as he finished.

"Nice, at least we all have Geometry and Athletics together." Leo smirked, taking a sip of Jason's apple juice. Jason groaned, pushing his tray to Leo in defeat.

"Wow, way to enable him," Piper said, finishing her hash browns. Jason just shrugged as Leo topped off his apple juice and popped a slice of bacon into his mouth.

"Whatever, I wasn't gonna finish anyway." Jason took out his phone, sighing when he saw the time. "First bell is gonna ring in a few minutes, and sophomore lockers are on the opposite side of Geometry."

Jason and Piper stood up, gathering their bags and throwing their trash away. Leo tossed his crushed apple juice carton into the trash can, going to pick his bag up before realizing something.

"Uh, guys?" Jason and Piper turned their eyes to see a slightly embarrassed Leo. "I may or may not have left my backpack in my dorm." Piper laughed, folding her arms as she stared at Leo. Jason's eyes lingered on her for a second too long.

"You're such a-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"You better haul ass, Valdez," Jason said, walking off to his locker with Piper.

Cursing in Spanish under his breath, Leo sped walk through the halls. The bell sounded as he swung the door to his dorm room open.

After tossing on his bag and popping a breath mint in his mouth upon remembering he didn't brush his teeth, Leo continued his walk to Geometry. He entered the classroom the second the late bell sounded again.

"Good job, Leo!" Piper's voice rang out, mocking her best friend. Leo laughed.

"Thanks, Beauty Queen!" Leo scanned the room. The tables fit two people, and every desk was occupied. Jason and Piper gave him amused looks as Leo set his eyes on the one free seat in the room.

Sitting in the back of the class with his backpack perched on the empty chair next to him was an emo-looking freshman. He had pale, cold-looking skin with heavy bags under dark eyes, giving him a dead appearance. His hair was black and messy and perhaps a couple days overdue for a haircut.

Leo grinned as he stood by the desk. The boy refused to meet his smile. "Hey, Casper, looks like you're sitting by me." The dark-haired boy continued to stare straight ahead. Leo scratched the back of his neck.

"Could you, like, move your bag, please?" The freshman sighed, realizing the sophomore wouldn't leave him alone until he did.

"Thank you!" Leo sat on the black chair, taking out a battered notebook. The words 'Algebra I' were still faintly printed on the cover of it.

"Please be quiet, sir. You're lucky you weren't tardy," the teacher, Ms. Clemons reprimanded.

"Yes, ma'am!" The dark haired boy next to Leo scooted his chair away from him slightly.

Leo ignored the teacher's explanation of the geometry course and pulled out a bent paper clip, fiddling with it as he tuned her out. The freshman next to him obeyed the teacher's directions, setting up his journal as instructed.

After a couple more minutes of boredom, Leo flicked the paper clip to the side and took out a piece of notebook paper, folding it into a paper airplane, scribbling a note, and tossing it to Piper. She rolled her eyes and picked it up inconspicuously.

She scribbled something back and tossed it at Leo. The note hit the emo boy instead.

"Sorry about that!" Leo whispered as the other boy pushed the note back.

"Whatever."

"Say, what's your name, anyway?"

He ignored his question.

Leo leaned over his shoulder, resting dangerously close to the boy as he read the name printed on the top of his syllabus. The other boy flinched at the contact.

"Nico di Angelo, huh? You must be pretty smart to end up in a sophomore level class." Nico's fist tightened around his pencil. His nails were black and he wore a skull ring.

"Sure. Now, go away. You're way too close." Leo huffed and obeyed, scribbling a response to Piper and tossing the paper back. He tapped his fingers on the desk in a pattern.

Leo sighed at the memory and busied himself by doodling the prototype of a flying ship. ADHD and boring classes were the worst. It had only been ten minutes but it felt like ten hours. He stole another glance at the boy next to him.

He wore an aviator jacket, despite it being warm out. Though Leo supposed he couldn't talk, he was the same way with his army jacket. His jeans were black and skinny, accentuating his thin frame. He topped off the look with Doc Martens and a series of piercings decorating his face. Leo counted one on his nose, three on each ear, and a lip ring.

"Why are you looking at me?" Nico asked. Leo jumped a bit- he didn't realize he had been staring that long.

"Oh, I'm totally checking you out. You're pretty sexy." To Leo's surprise, Nico flushed pink.

"Just…shut up."

Leo shrugged it off with a smirk and continued messing around. The notes from Piper had stopped after Ms. Clemons' eyes seemed to follow Leo. He rolled his eyes. Sorry he wanted to have fun. At least he had shop class next.

After what seemed like hours of class, the bell sounded. Nico shoved everything into his bag and stormed off, while Leo packed up and walked over to Piper and Jason.

"Why'd you keep talking to that emo boy next to you?" Jason asked, tucking his hands into his pockets. Leo shrugged.

"Bored. I got shop next, how about y'all?" Leo asked, Texan accent shining through.

"Science," Jason said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Art," Piper replied as the trio walked out of the math classroom.

"Man, that Nico guy was something," Leo said, retucking his white shirt into his jeans anxiously.

"The guy you sat by?" Piper asked.

"Yeah."

"Uh, okay. Why do you care?" Leo shrugged.

"I dunno. But he was like, really weird about being touched." Leo shook it off. "Never mind. See you at lunch?" Jason and Piper shared a look and said their goodbyes as the trio went their separate ways to class.

"_What the hell was that_?" Leo thought as he walked into shop class. It was an unpopular class, so there was only around twelve students. Leo didn't care, though. He could just work on his projects in peace. Yes, that sounded good.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

Nico groaned as his alarm sounded. His fingers danced as he tried to find the 'off' button. He was always useless with technology.

He lived in a pretty simple dorm, with posters stuck on the wall with tape and photos pinned beside his bed. Nico sighed, pulling on his aviator jacket, combing his hair with his fingers, and tossing on his bag.

Nico checked the time on his cracked phone. If he hurried, he could catch breakfast with Hazel.

Plus, he really didn't like his geometry class.

Or rather, he didn't like the boy who sat next to him.

Thankfully, after the first mortifying day, Leo seemed to get the message and left him alone for the second day, leaving Nico to silently take notes.

Nico shook his head and walked down to the cafeteria, ordering some black coffee and taking a seat. Alone.

Nico let the noise in the cafeteria filter out of his head, their words becoming white noise. His mind was lingering too much on the sophomore he sat next to Geometry. He shouldn't be doing this.

Downing his coffee, he stood up.

Nico rushed to the bathroom and took a deep breath, splashing the water on his pale skin. Biting his lip as the bell rang, he relaxed before heading to Geometry.

"_It'll be fine, he's just going to ignore you. It's nothing to worry about._"

Nico walked in with a sigh, and his frown deepened when he saw Leo already sitting at their desk. He was kind of banking on Leo showing up later than he did, as Leo had on the first day and the second day. They locked eyes for a second, and Leo gave a friendly wave. Nico scowled and turned his gaze away.

"Hey, Casper." Nico ignored him, as he usually did.

"Wow, okay then."

"Address me by name next time you want me to respond." Nico retorted. Leo smirked.

"Whatever."

Nico stared straight ahead. He resisted the urge to look at Leo. It didn't matter. He knew what Leo looked like. He had mocha skin with moles dotted randomly across his face, acne infesting his forehead. His hair was messy, with curls of brown hair quirked in different directions. He wore ridiculously high-waisted dad jeans and tucked in his wrinkled shirts and always wore that army jacket.

Yup. Nico didn't have to grace Leo with a second look.

"Alright, using the notes you took yesterday, I want you to create a poster demonstrating all the amazing methods we learned." Nico sighed at this as the rest of the class groaned, Leo doing so the loudest.

"I need them to be colorful with accurate math. On the bright side, you'll be doing this project with your seatmate, so I hope you chose your seats wisely on the first day of school."

"Are you fucking serious?" Nico muttered under his breath. Leo grinned.

"Looks like you're stuck with me, Nico."

"Shit."

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

It was becoming very clear very quickly that Leo and Nico weren't meant to work together.

"You're not supposed to carry the two!"

"Carrying numbers is a social construct."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Whatever!"

"I'll do numbers 11-20, you do numbers 1-10. Just leave me alone, Valdez."

Leo began working on number four. He tapped his fingers on the desk again. Nico had noticed this habit before. It was annoying how he'd tap out inconsistent noises like that. Nico couldn't tell if he was trying to make a beat with his hands or if it was something else, but it didn't sound pleasant.

Nico sighed and focused on his work.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

The past week or so had been mostly uneventful.

Nico and Leo had pretty much made a silent agreement to work alone. Most of class Leo spent dicking around with the contents of his backpack. He had only managed to complete three problems in that time, and they definitely weren't "colorful, with accurate math".

He sucked a breath in through his teeth and tossed a tennis ball against the school's wall, catching it as it bounced off. Piper winced. "Everyone in the meeting can probably hear that, you know." Leo smirked.

"Not my fault that _someone _wanted to wait for Jason to get out of his dorky little student council meetings." Piper rolled her eyes.

"Like that wasn't you with Call-"

"Please don't mention Calypso." Piper snorted.

"What happened to 'I'm still gonna hang with Callie, since we vibe together'? Piper asked, mocking Leo's voice poorly. "Now it's 'don't mention Calypso.'" Leo made a noise of disapproval, scrunching up his face and tapping something anxiously against his notebook.

"Just...Just drop it, Pipes." Leo responded half-heartedly. Piper frowned.

"Sorry." Leo sighed.

"Nah, it's okay. It's only a little bit painful to think about Calypso." He forced himself not to use his stupid nickname for her by default.

"Well, I'm just going to change the subject." Piper thought for a second. "What about that Nico guy you were complaining about a week ago?"

Leo bounced his tennis ball again. "Oh, right. We just do our own thing." He paused. "Well, he does all the work and I mess around."

"Sounds like you, alright. Ms. Clemons is a dick, though."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, and?" Leo tossed the ball again, his hand ready to catch it again.

"Bet you she'll know he did all the work. Not to be an Annabeth but this grade is weighted to be like 70% for this quarter." Leo moved his hand to run it through his hand. The tennis ball rolled down the hallway pitifully.

"Fucking hell." Leo dug through his messy bag. "I did do three of the problems, at least."

"How many were you supposed to do?"

"Um, ten?"

"You're fucked."

"Thanks for the encouragement." Piper chuckled.

"I'm not wrong, though. Here, I'll help you by checking over your work and doing some with you. The rest you have to do with…"

Her voice trailed off lightly as she thought of Leo's partner's name. "Nico." Leo finished for her.

"Nico!" She snatched the paper from Leo. Piper scanned the page before squinting.

"They're all wrong, aren't they?" Piper erased some of it and scribbled something down.

"Not anymore." Leo smiled.

"I love you, bitch."

"Me too, whore." Jason chose this as the time to walk out of the classroom.

"Hey, I thought I was your whore," Jason complained. Piper smiled, gathering her things.

"Now, Jason, that's not school president behavior," Leo chastised, grabbing his things and sending a glance towards his tennis ball before bringing his eyes back to Jason, who rolled his own eyes.

"Right. You guys wanna grab food at the cafeteria?"

"Fuck yeah."

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

"So, the project." Leo pulled out his own work for the project.

"Yeah, the project," Nico mimicked.

"How much have you gotten done?" Leo asked. Nico shoved his papers toward the sophomore.

"I've up to sixteen."

"Only sixteen?!" Leo sputtered. Nico preened a lock of his black hair. Leo watched his movements, unconsciously doing the same to his own hair.

"Yeah. It's kind of a hard project, which is why you're supposed to work with someone." Nico snatched Leo's paper. "Which, would work in theory, if your partner was capable of doing more than three problems in over a week."

Leo laughed. Nico's ears turned pink. He didn't know how to feel about his reaction. "True. Whatever, man. But I don't feel like failing. I failed Algebra in 8th, which is why I'm here right now." Leo twirled his mechanical pencil around calloused fingers. "So, how about we work together on this?"

"It's due Friday." Leo grinned.

"So, I guess we'll have to meet up outside of class, partner." Nico looked away.

"Fine."

Leo managed a smile. "4:00, dorm 482. Bring a condom, babe," he whispered the end of his statement coyly. Nico jumped, flushing red and scooting away from Leo.

"Fucking-just fucking stop." Leo grinned.

His teeth were a little crooked, Nico noticed.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

Nico bit his lip, combing his black hair with his hands and tucking ring-covered hands into his aviator jacket as he waited for a response from his knock.

He really didn't want to be here.

Nico's curly-haired annoyance opened the door. "Come in, Casper!"

Nico set his face into the grimace it always seemed to be in when he was around Leo. He scanned the room.

Dirty clothes littered one side of the room, a desk with dozens of papers dating to last month sitting next to a bunk bed. Leo climbed onto the unmade top bunk, taking a swig from a metal water bottle. "Like my room?"

Nico kept his eyes on the pictures taped on the wall. "It's...interesting, to say the least. But that's not what we're here for." Nico pushed a pair of jeans off the chair-the waist was ridiculously high, so it was definitely Leo's, and Nico definitely didn't feel bad about it.

"Alright, I've been able to do a decent amount of questions, and I arranged a couple of questions on the poster." Leo nodded, keeping his eyes on a stain on the cuffs of his jeans. "Make sure to follow my format so it looks good."

"Right." Leo clicked his tongue. "So, how do you do this stuff, anyway?"

Nico face-palmed. "Did you not take notes? Or pay attention at all in the last week?"

Leo winked. "Sorry, you've been distracting me." He highlighted his statement by reaching down from the bunk bed to circle his finger around Nico's wrist. Nico jerked his arm back immediately.

"Don't say that, and don't touch me." Leo blinked.

"Damn, I'm actually sorry, man. Alright, but can you teach me how to do this, for real?"

Nico's face softened. He didn't think saying no would work on someone like Leo, and it made him respect him the tiniest bit, putting his respect for Leo at a solid negative four. "Okay. Let me see your work."

They worked together through number four. "So, your problem is that you're not adding the numbers at the right time. You can't add them together before plugging it into the new formula." Leo pursed his lips.

"Math is confusing." Nico smiled.

"Yeah, but paying attention would help."

"Maybe."

"Maybe."

Leo began messing with a Rubix cube that was sitting on the desk. "This morning was kinda cool, since I found the tiniest little mouse, and he was just chilling in a little hole along the baseboard of the hallway, so I took one of my strawberries, and I-"

"How does this relate to anything?" Nico had whiplash from how quickly Leo moved through topics. Yeah, Nico had slight ADHD, but Leo was on another level. The boy in question shrugged.

"I dunno, but he was light brown, and it made me think of those books about, um, oh, yeah! That book, about the mouse and the motorcycle." He scrunched up his face. "What was it called?"

"The mouse and the motorcycle?"

Leo snapped his fingers. "Yeah, right! I remember, uh, fuckin, Mrs. Johnson, that bitch, said I was like a mouse. Racist bitch."

Nico gave a neutral look. "Right. So, the math?"

"Oh, yeah." Leo reached over to grab the paper, careful not to touch Nico.

Nico gave a small, almost-smile. At least he remembered.

Nico worked on coloring the poster, sometimes shooting a look back at Leo to make sure he was working. The room was silent, aside from the light tapping Leo always seemed to do.

Nico hummed lightly to himself in an attempt to cover up the noise. He scribbled down his answers, the lead breaking off. He clicked his mechanical pencil twice to get enough lead back to write.

Leo kept tapping.

"Okay, could you stop doing that? Why do you even do that?" Leo gave a slight grin, the slightest bittersweetness lingering in his smile.

"It's morse code, learned it when I was a kid. Want me to teach you?"

Nico groaned. "Oh my god, no!" Leo's grin dropped.

"Geez, sorry, Cas-"

"No. This is just a project for math class." He gripped his pencil tighter. "Stop acting like-like we're best friends, as if I'm that Piper girl or whatever." Nico shook his head in disgust. "Just stop. Stop trying to talk to me like I'm-" Nico cut himself off and looked away.

Leo stayed silent. Nico forced himself to look back at Leo.

He seemed so much different. His posture slumped, the glint in his eyes faded slightly. Nico couldn't help but notice how sad his eyes seemed, how his lips twitched as he thought about what to say. The sight shot a pang through Nico's heart.

"God, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No." This time, Leo cut him off. "Sorry I've been making you feel like that. Let's… just work on the project."

Nico sighed as Leo pulled out his papers and started working on number five. Nico continued on the poster, decorating it sloppily.

The air was quiet. No taps filled the space, keeping it hollow and empty of sound, aside from the whispers of graphite to paper as math exploded from their pencils, dancing haphazardly around the page.

Nico kept working. Leo kept working.

This is what Nico wanted, right?

Nico gave a light grumble. Leo kept working.

Nico's dark eyes lingered on the forgotten Rubix cube. Leo kept working.

"I...actually kind of do wanna learn morse code."

Leo looked up quizzically. "You...you don't have to pretend to make me feel better. This is fine, we can work."

Nico shook his head rigorously. "No. I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. It's...that's actually kind of cool. Morse code, that is."

Leo smiled. "Well, let's start with the basics- if that's okay with you."

"Of course it is, babe. Stick it in already," he whispered back.

The slightest bit of shock appeared on Leo's face as Nico's dirty words processed before a slow smile replaced it. "Okay, so you make a 'dot' by tapping with one finger. Like this." He tapped on the desk. Nico mimicked him.

"A 'dash' is like this." He tapped three times in succession. Nico followed his lead.

"Yup! Now this is A." He tapped once, then tapped three times.

Nico continued tapping along, learning some of the alphabet.

He couldn't help but think of how nice it was to have an almost-friend.

"I...guess we should get back to working." Leo picked up his pencil. Nico gave the ghost of a frown and mirrored his action.

"I suppose so."

The air was silent again.

"Hey, Leo?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

Leo gave a genuine smile. "No problem, Nico."

_Chapter two_

Nico quickly decided that yes, it was definitely nice to have an almost-friend.

He'd grown pretty good at this morse code thing, and it was cool to have a secret way to talk to Leo.

His black nails would carve out a message, with those charming taps and pauses spelling out word after word. _Eat my ass._

Nico would watch with delight as the Hispanic's chapped lips spread into a slight smile, covered poorly as he took messy notes.

He'd take those dark, calloused fingers and craft an equally artistic response to Nico's. _Gladly, when?_

Nico would pretend not to notice Leo gauging for a reaction as he translated in his head, the dots and dashes becoming letters, words, and sentences. _Tonight :)_

And Leo would let out a breathy sort of almost-laugh, to match his almost-friendship with this almost-decent guy.

Nico watched as Leo snatched his notebook and wrote out a message- in English.

_We can do it under the table the cafe while we finish this dumb project lol_

Nico ran a hand through floppy black hair and used his other hand to tap back. _Fuck yeah._

_-. - / -.- - ..-_

Nico laughed as Leo took his marker. "Give that back!" Leo raised it in the air.

"That doesn't work when I'm taller than you, stupid!" Nico stood up, trying to grab it when Leo tossed it against the wall. The yellow marker bounced off the wall lightly, landing into Leo's other hand. Nico smiled and grabbed his arm.

Leo raised an eyebrow. Nico was willingly touching him, as inappropriate as that sounded.

His hand was cold.

Nico used the slight shock to take it back. "Ha." He used the marker to draw a sloppy dick on his arm. It was barely visible due to its yellow color and Leo's tanned skin.

"Whatever. But I'm telling you, this is a corn yellow, not just yellow," Leo complained. Nico twirled the marker between his fingers expertly, gliding around pale fingers gracefully.

"It says 'yellow' right here."

"Yeah, well, who are you, Crayola Crayon?"

"Yes, because that's who the creator of crayola is called." Leo beamed, taking a sip of his iced coffee.

"Glad you agree," Leo said, returning to his work.

Nico tapped out a message.

_... ..- -.-. -.- / - -.- / -.. .. -.-. -.-_

"Wow, 'suck my dick', what an original retort," Leo replied verbally as he used the corn yellow marker to underline a heading.

"Okay, it was cheap." Nico took note of the marker he was using. "Hey! The quote unquote 'corn yellow' marker is off-limits until you admit its real name."

Leo took his time underlining the heading and recapping the marker. "No, this corn yellow marker is a-maize-ing! You can't hog the corn yellow mark- hey, where are you going?"

Nico laughed. "I'm dropping out of Geometry."

"Aw man! Guess I'm going to have to find another emo boy to teach morse code and steal corn yellow markers from."

"If you say 'corn yellow' one more time, I'm actually dropping out."

"Corn yell-"

"No."

Nico's eyes traced Leo's smile. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

Leo's smile dropped. "Oh, uh, sure?"

"Are we friends?"

The sophomore raised an eyebrow. "Uh, yeah? Why wouldn't we be?" Leo asked.

The tips of Nico's ears flushed red slightly. "Nothing, I just wasn't sure if we were almost-friends or actual friends."

"If you weren't sure, I would've held a nice friendship christening for you. There would've been snacks, and drinks, and corn yellow marker-"

"Jesus Christ." Leo carefully put a hand on Nico's shoulder. Nico gave a slight nod, indicating he was okay with it.

"Well, baby, we're stuck together. It's too late. We're friends."

"I regret recent life decisions. But thanks."

_But thanks._ Those words echoed in Leo's head, and he couldn't help but feel warm inside.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

Leo walked into Piper's dorm. It was one of the nicer ones, with pictures taped on the walls and fairy lights hanging from the ceiling and (fake) plants littered around the room.

Jason and Piper were snuggled up on the bed, Spider-Man Homecoming playing from an illegal pirating site on Piper's laptop. Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Someone's gotten comfy." Piper jumped at the noise, immediately scooting away from Jason as if he had just been struck by lightning.

"Leo?" Jason asked.

Leo rolled his eyes. "No, this is Coach Hedge- you cupcakes are suspended forever! No PDA! Give me fifty! Also I'm fucking Piper's dad's assistant, Mellie!" He mocked Hedge's voice perfectly. Piper and Jason laughed.

"Seriously, when did you get the balls to make a move, Pipes?" Piper threw a teddy bear at Leo. He fumbled to catch it and tossed back, hitting Jason.

"Ow!"

"Man up, student president, it's a teddy bear."

"He has a name!" Piper complained. Jason smiled.

"Yeah, I'm Jason, not just a student presiden-"

"I was talking about the teddy bear." This time, Leo laughed at Jason as he crossed his arms.

"Okay, but seriously: when?" Leo asked, flopping down on the bed. " I expect to be your guys' permanent third wheel. I mean, I basically already was."

Jason squinted, he was still a little miffed by Leo's comment. He was more important than a threadbare stuffed animal, damn it. "You would know if you weren't with Nico again."

Piper shoved her boyfriend playfully. "Come on, you're acting like he's not allowed to have any other friends." Jason considered this.

"Okay, true."

"Anyways, it's not like I would've asked you out with _him _breathing down my neck." She gestured to Leo. Leo gave her that crooked, dazzling grin.

"That's me, professional neck-breather!"

"So, I went to her dorm for movie night, and I ask 'hey, what movie are we watching' and she went-"

"Jason, no, he's just going to mock me," Piper whined. Jason smiled evilly.

"Sorry. So, she went 'will you out with me now already?'. Like, that. No 'go' before the out. Just, 'will you out with me now already'." Leo laughed a loud laugh, staring at Piper like he stared at the stain on the cuff of his dad jeans.

"Shut up! Can we just watch Spider-Man and stop talking about dumb shit?" Jason nodded.

"Wait, but I missed half of it," Leo complained.

"Next time, don't ditch us for your little freshman buddy," Piper said. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, Nico seems nice."

"Not really," Jason said honestly.

Leo chuckled. "He's like that. He's a gem when you get to know him."

Leo found himself thinking of his next Geometry class rather than the adventures of Tom Holland.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

Nico recapped his (corn) yellow marker with a satisfied smile. "We're done."

"We're done," Leo echoed as honey brown eyes scanned the poster. "Only one day before it's due."

"And it was assigned like two weeks ago," Nico added helpfully.

"Indeed." Leo tapped on the table. _You okay_. Nico recognized the phrase: it was the same pattern of dots and dashes his hands always seemed to spell out.

He didn't think it was right to ask why, though.

"We should celebrate, Neeks!"

"Elaborate?" Nico asked, gathering his supplies and shoving them into a black pencil case.

"I'll take you on an adventure," Leo insisted. "It'll be fun."

Nico pursed his lips. He tapped on his bedpost. _I don't know_.

Leo clicked his fingers against the desk. _You're stressed._

_I'm aware of that. _Nico locked his eyes on Leo's as he finished his sentence.

_So come._ Leo accentuated this suggestive remark with an eyebrow quirk.

Nico couldn't keep a straight face, and a light laugh emerged from the stony-faced emo boy, causing Leo to join into his blissfully laughter, filling the air with the pleasant noise as the duo reveled in their glee.

"God, okay, okay. Lunch is ending soon, anyway." Nico shot his eyes away from Leo's.

"You know, we could just skip and celebrate now."

"That's a bet."

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

Leo hummed to himself as Nico hopped into the passenger seat. His car was definitely shitty, with it cobbled together haphazardly with different parts, stitched together with chewed bubblegum and sleepless nights, and it was just so...Leo.

Okay, sure, maybe the lack of seatbelts _was _a con.

"Great ride," Nico said sarcastically. He had blindly reached for the seatbelt by instinct and found air.

"Yup." A proud grin spread across Leo's face. "Raided some junkyards, asked the shop teacher, and spent a summer working. Just for this. Even cheated on my learner's permit test."

Suddenly, Nico had a lot less faith in his driver. "Oh."

"Oh." Leo's grin grew as he backed out of the school's parking lot. He was happy to get away from the boarding school for even just an afternoon.

"You skip often?" Nico asked as Leo blindly rummaged for something in his pocket. Leo shrugged.

"I suppose. Maybe, like, once or twice a month." He stuck a cigarette into his mouth, lighting it with a white lighter. He took a puff and exhaled, rolling down the window manually to let the smoke escape.

"Want one?" Leo asked, extending the box towards Nico.

"Not really a huge smoker, but sure." He took one and lit it, rolling down his own window and taking a puff. He admired the fleeting clouds of cancer floating from his mouth.

"It's a shitty habit. I like fire." This didn't exactly surprise Nico. It just seemed like another piece of Leo's intricate puzzle, a trait to be filed away in the filing cabinet drawer labeled 'Leo'.

"Really?" Nico asked, turning the lighter around in his hand.

"Mmhm. There's some painful memories though." Nico swallowed.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Leo tapped again.

_You okay?_

Nico decided to bite the bullet. "W-why do you always tap out 'you okay?'" He cursed the anxious stutter lingering in his voice, floating and waiting for precisely the worst time to come out.

Leo bit his lip. "My, um, Mom taught me morse code. We'd always tap out things to each other. It was our little thing."

"Ah."

"Yeah."

Nico wasn't stupid. He wouldn't be at this school if his parents were around.

"You know, white lighters are correlated to death?"

"Perfect." Leo grinned again, that endearing crooked smile. "We're here."

Nico looked up, and his jaw dropped.

Various abandoned rides sat around the park, masked by the trees. Rides overgrown, rusted, and broken rested, falling into disarray. Broken bulbs and dusty claw machines and vending machines with expired cola added to the aesthetic.

"Wow."

"Yup." Leo opened the red door of his car, Nico opening his own blue door in turn. Leo ran through the trees, ducking under branches.

Nico laughed. "Wait up!"

They looked around. "It's cool, isn't it?"

Nico nodded. "I think someone died and they jumped ship. Anyway, I've fixed a couple things and bam! New hangout spot. I'd clean it, but it's a far drive." Leo explained.

"I see… can we go on the teacup ride?" Leo smirked.

"Hell yeah!"

Leo jumped the fence of the ride operating area, clicking a button. Nico followed him, but a tanned hand stopped him from proceeding. "Um, where's your wristband?"

Nico chuckled, pushing Leo away playfully and jumping into a faded, red teacup.

"This things better than your car. It has a seatbelt." Leo dismissively waved a hand.

"Basic safety? Don't know her." Leo pressed a few buttons and jumped into the cup with Nico.

The duo went at a solid five hours per hour.

"Wow. Amazing," Nico said. "Great celebrati-oh!" Leo jerked the wheel of the teacup, causing them to brake. Nico gave a genuine smile. He grabbed the wheel and jerked it again.

The edges of their hands touched, and Nico was okay with it.

Soon, the ride ended. They went through ride after ride, going on the weathered carousel, a caterpillar roller coaster, and breaking into a claw machine.

Nico didn't want to admit that he'd later keep that stupid, dusty teddy bear.

It was sunset after what felt like three seconds. "Time flies too fast when you're having fun," Leo complained. Nico nodded, opening his cola from 1988 and taking a small sip. It wasn't too bad, all things considered.

"This is way better than school," Nico said, looking up as the sky faded into hues of pink and orange.

"Yeah." Leo watched the skies with him, legs crossed as he sipping on 1988 orange soda. "Isn't there a stupid saying, like, 'pink in the morn, something something, red in the night, sailor's delight'?"

"I don't know." Nico yawned, and it spread to Leo. He yawned, pulling out a cracked phone and checking his messages.

A couple from Piper and Jason, asking he was skipping class. He ignored them and returned his attention to Nico.

"I wonder how colorblind people feel about sunsets," Leo wondered aloud.

"As you do."

"Shut up." Leo finished his soda, crushing it and tossing it in the bin.

"Today was fun," Nico admitted.

"Thanks," Leo said, eyes drifting from the sky to the boy next to him.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

"So," Jason said. "Look who decided to show his face again."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Look, I found someone else to help me third-wheel." Nico took a seat awkwardly.

Piper waved at him, and Nico waved back. "Yeah, my sister had a different period of lunch."

"Ah," Jason said.

"Anyway Clemons finally pair in the grades after like a week. We ended up with a 92 on the math thingy. Maybe this was fate!" Leo announced proudly.

"Me and Piper got a 100." Leo made a face.

"Okay, we get it, superman. You're perfect."

"He is," Piper agreed. "Even if he thinks strawberry milk is good."

"Hey!" Nico chuckled a little, tapping out a message of his own. He realized he too had developed a habit, adopted from Leo.

They were kind of spending a lot of time together.

Nico never really felt like he belonged. And Leo, with his stupid dad jeans and army jacket and curly hair and calloused skin had given him a space to feel like he was important. He was surprisingly great at respecting him and his boundaries.

Nico liked that.

Nico liked Leo.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

"You kinda suck at Mario Kart, dude," Leo remarked as Nico struggled to get out of tenth place. Leo soared above, a solid first place.

"I've never been good at games. I'm kinda old-fashioned, I guess." He smiled as he rolled on a blue shell. Leo's eyes widened.

"Come on, Neeks, don't do this." Nico grinned. The emo boy pressed a, and the blue shell knocked him, giving the NPC just enough time to pass him and cross the finish line.

"I may not be able to beat you, but I could prolong your win."

"Yeah, yeah," Leo leaned back in Nico's skull patterned bed.

"I really do like hanging with you, Casper."

Nico was suddenly aware of how their shoulders barely touched.

"Yeah?" Nico asked.

"Yeah," Leo said. "I love Pipes and Jason, but it's just so much. I'm so used to feeling...like…"

"You don't belong," Nico finished.

Leo smiled. "Exactly that. Thanks, Neeks. I know we joke a lot, but I really do care about you."

Nico's heartbeat sped up.

"M-me too."

"You better. Or else I'm taking custody of the corn yellow marker and divorci-"

Nico hit him over the head with a skull-patterned pillow, causing the duo to erupt into laughter. "You're a dumbass," Nico said, ignoring his own racing heart.

Nico didn't like that.

Nico liked Leo.

Too much.

He wasn't supposed to.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

Nico bit his lip as he opened a new tab on his phone's browser.

_how to know if you're gay_

Nico groaned. Only gay people would google something like that, wouldn't they?

But Leo. Fuck, Leo. His warm eyes. His cuffed jeans. The way his battered hands would tap the table, spelling out 'you okay's and 'I love you's, and Nico would pretend they were addressed to him. The way he made Nico feel wanted, happy, and just...Leo.

Leo.

A boy.

His best friend.

His straight (?) best friend.

A boy.

He sighed, fistfuls of black hair clenched as he did his best to eliminate these thoughts, like he didn't go through this exact same process in the seventh grade when Percy Jackson-

No.

Nico was just going to ignore this. He was going to ignore this until it went away. It would be easier. Leo isn't into you. He dated Callie. Nico had heard the story from Piper before.

Ignoring always worked.

Except for when it didn't.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

"Why haven't you been around?" Leo asked during Geometry.

In Nico's defense, everything reminded him of how he felt about Leo. He ignored Leo's taps, since it reminded him of how he'd tap out 'I love you'. He avoided him like the plague, because then he'd look at his eyes and-

Yeah.

Nico gave a noncommittal shrug. Leo frowned. Nico tried not to look at him. "For real, man, if this is a joke, it's not funn-"

"Valdez!" Ms. Clemons called out. "Please be quiet, I am teaching right now, if you haven't noticed. Your grades certainly reflect that."

"Sorry," Leo mumbled.

He continued their conversation through taps. _Please respond_.

Nico sighed and clicked back, making a few mistakes. _Cam't saf._

_Why not?_

"It's no big deal. I'll tell you when I'm ready," Nico whispered. "But I'm fine."

Leo looked back, his brow furrowed, glossy, warm brown eyes like hot chocolate dripping with concern. He tucked a piece of hair behind his ear, tapping out an absentminded 'you okay'.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

Nico nodded, and Leo pursed his lips and respected his choice, turning back to the board and taking his notes half-heartedly.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

The next month was uneventful, but Nico did his best to bury his feelings. It worked, but Leo definitely noticed the little things. How Nico wouldn't meet his eyes. How he'd stare, before looking away.

Having someone to talk to in morse was good, at least. Leo was getting more fluent than he ever was before.

They messed around in Geometry still.

The weather was colder.

Didn't stop them from skipping after lunch and watching the sunset in the amusement park, though.

Leo couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

It didn't help that he, too, liked Nico.

A lot.

Maybe too much.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

"You staying over the break?" Leo asked, munching on a french fry. Piper managed to get Mellie to bring them all happy meals. "I don't really have anywhere to go, so I'm not."

"Visiting my sister," Jason said, taking a sip from his water bottle.

Piper sighed. "Dad's giving me another chance. We're gonna surf down south."

Leo gave a slight smile. "That's good, at least. Think he'll get a chance to meet Jason?"

"I've always wanted to meet Tristan McLean," Jason commented, leaning back in his chair.

"He's really not that special, he's just my dad," Piper insisted.

"Who's also a hella famous celebrity," Nico reminded.

"Yeah, yeah. So it's just you and Leo staying?" Piper asked.

"I guess so," Leo said.

Leo didn't know if he could handle two weeks with just Nico to hang out with.

He'd accepted his bisexuality pretty quickly. It explained his strange feelings around Jason during freshman year, but there was still Calypso.

Who, he strangely hadn't thought about in a while.

"We're gonna have a grand old time. We just won't be seeing sisters from all-girl schools or surfing in the down under." Leo shooed a fly away from his fries.

"You guys have fun," Jason said.

"We will!" Leo said, tossing an arm around Nico's shoulder.

Nico didn't know if he could handle two weeks with just Leo to hang out with.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

"Hey," Leo whispered as he inched through the window of Nico's dorm room.

He flinched. "Fucking hell, man. Just text me next time."

"You don't ever check your phone." Nico picked his up and saw that Leo had, indeed, texted him.

"What is it?" Nico whispered. Leo held up a bottle of whiskey, shaking it slightly. The three-quarters full bottle gleamed in the moonlight, showing off its honey brown hue.

"You in?" Nico grinned.

"Amusement park?" Nico asked.

"Amusement park," Leo confirmed.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

The pair watched the stars in silence, huddled together as they took turns sipping the whiskey.

"I was obsessed with astronomy when I was like, eight," Nico said, breaking the silence.

"Me too." He stared at the sky. "I'm a Taurus."

"Not a Leo?" Nico asked. Leo narrowed his eyes.

"Why would I be a Leo?"

"I- never mind." Nico chuckled. His eyes flickered to the wall, where they had wrote their names with a certain yellow marker.

Leo hiccuped. "Oh, yeah. That's my name."

They stared up at the stars. "I really like someone," Nico admitted finally, the alcohol making his voice slightly warped.

"Oh, yeah?" Leo asked. His voice trembled lightly, and his heartbeat quickened. His eyes lingered on the little dimple Nico had.

Could it be him? Was it Leo making Nico feel this way?

But then he looked at Nico.

Porcelain skin gleaming perfectly in the star's light, dark hair like baby bat wings, eyes that lit up whenever he got excited, and a slender, lithe body with the slightest bit of muscle and-

And out of Leo's league.

He thought about himself for a second. Messy hair, slicked with oil from shop and working on his car and the rides. Acne on his forehead. Moles sprinkled in the least flattering spaces. Crooked teeth and a scrawny body and an uneven skin tone and a stupid personality and-

And way below Nico's league.

It wasn't him.

"Yeah. I really think I like him," Nico mumbled. He was nodding off to sleep.

Leo let him lean on his shoulder, snoring lightly as Leo stared at the stars and thought of a better reality.

He tapped out a message with his scarred hands, right on Nico's wrist.

_.. / .-.. - ...- . / -.- - ..-_

_I love you_.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

"Piper?" Leo said, uncertainty exploding from his voice.

"Yeah?"

"I think I love Nico."

"I know, Leo," she said dryly.

"How?"

"I have a great sixth sense. Also, it's all you can fucking talk about." Leo gave a slight smile.

"What do I do?" Leo's hands shook.

"I don't know, ask him out? Call me at a time that's not four AM next time you want advice."

"Sorry."

"Good luck."

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

"Hey, Nico," Leo greeted as he plopped his tray in front of the emo boy.

"Hey." Nico rubbed his temple, taking a sip of the shitty coffee the cafeteria offered.

Leo grinned. "Hangover?"

"Yeah." Leo's grin dropped.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Of course."

"Is this about what you said last night?" Leo asked. Nico's grip tightened.

"What did I say last night?"

"You… like a guy." Leo was careful to filter out his bitterness.

Nico swallowed. "I'm sorry, I tried t-"

"Sorry about what?" Leo raised an eyebrow.

"You know."

"I don't."

"About how I'm...gay," Nico looked away.

Leo smiled. "Not anything to be ashamed of. I'm bisexual."

"Really?" Nico envied how he could just say it like that.

"Yup. Pipes is too. It's not a big deal," Leo said, taking a sip of Nico's orange juice.

"Oh."

"So, um, whose dick are you craving? Didn't know you were cheating on me," Leo joked, but he didn't meet Nico's stony eyes.

"Someones."

"Ah." Nico sighed.

"Thanks."

Leo smiled. "No problem, Neeks."

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

The expression on Nico's face was so amazing, Leo wish he could pause this moment and save it, every single detail, tucked away in the most secure part of Leo's brain. He never wanted to forget it.

His glossy, skin, flushed with the slightest tinge of pink. Soft lips upturned as his melodic laugh flowed from his mouth, crystal clear. Sad eyes blazed with amusement, covered up by dorky safety goggles. His hair, messy and outgrown but oh so fluffy looking.

"Stop!" Nico insisted, his gloved hands held up in light resistance. Leo couldn't help but watch his eyes. Nico made eye contact, and the shop classroom seemed to fade from existence, and it was just Nico and Leo, Leo and Nico.

He couldn't help it.

One moment, Leo was focusing in on his eyes, the soft, hazel bit of his left eye, then suddenly his flushed skin, and his asymmetrical dimples, and then his lips.

And then his lips touched Nico's.

Instantly, Nico's shock wore off, and suddenly, he was kissing the mechanic back.

It was in no way a conventionally perfect kiss, but to Leo? It was perfect.

Leo's chapped lips melted into Nico's cold yet soft lips so easily. Their thick goggles collided, and Nico's nose bumped Leo's. Calloused hands rested on Nico's hips, and Nico was definitely okay with it.

Leo's eyes fluttered open first. Nico's opened a second later, his skin flushed that beautiful shade of pink.

Leo moved his goggles to his forehead. "Sorry, I just had to do that."

Nico shook his head. "Don't be. I would've never made the move."

Leo's eyes widened. "On me?"

"No, the other boy I had a raging boner for."

Leo's smiled dampened until growing back at twice the force. "You mean-"

"Yes, stupid." Nico planted a kiss, right on one of Leo's moles.

Nico leaned back into Leo's chest, a calloused hand wrapping around a soft one quickly.

"So," Leo said.

"So," Nico echoed.

"Wanna be my boyfriend?"

Nico grinned.

_-.. . ..-. .. -. .. - . .-.. -.- .-.-.-_

_Definitely_.

.-.. .. -. . / -... .-. . .- -.-

there we are! wrote this in like two days and it's just a nice little one-shot.


End file.
